SOS
by Evil Orange Crayon
Summary: Lucifer vanishes. Not the first time, but what happens when this time it's very much against his will? Rating for future content, because I'm me and there's probably intent for it to go there. (If you're following this and got spammed, sorry. I screwed up chapter uploads and had to fix it x.x)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I just like to play with it.

Rating: M because while there's no real plan here, I always assume I'm gonna put sex in it somewhere. It's just who I am.

So, first let me take the moment and say… this isn't a original idea. I am totally borrowing it from Sandman. I might mention The Endless, I might not. I really don't know what I'm doing, but I'll figure it out when I get there. I just wanted to kidnap the devil. Fortunately for everyone, I don't live in an area that has basements 3

Story title because I drew a blank when I went to submit this and I guess it seems fitting.

* * *

1

It was a trying time, something that he acknowledged was his own fault. He took a human life and his consequence was bearing down on him. His true face itched beneath his skin like an infected wound, throbbing as if it missed its place. Each time he felt the heat of it, the image of fear on her face danced in his mind and his fingers faltered at the keys.

He was seated at his piano in his penthouse, a tumbler of whiskey before him untouched for the most part. It had been a long day with a case that seemed painfully obvious with the culprit, but he was determined to not overstep these new boundaries that the detective had set for him. He had danced on the line with her before, but this was a time he didn't want to give her cause to push him out of her life.

It was a punishment he deserved, but couldn't bare.

It already felt strained between them, but she allowed him to keep working with him. Texting him when cases popped up, using him his skills when necessary. It just seemed hollow. Hollow in the memory of her lips against his, her hands on his face and the whisper of her breath mixing with his.

Just the reminder of another opportunity he had with her, missed once again. And all for what? Vengeance? Punishing Cain for killing Charlotte or for nearly robbing him of the detective?

The hollow ache in his chest just intensified, bleeding into the music he played. Linda had recommended that he play gently with Chloe, give her space and work within her willingness to accept.

"Chloe is a logical person," the doctor said carefully. "She believes what she sees and you just… you threw a wrecking ball through it. It's not just that you are the devil-"

"You didn't see the fear in her eyes," he interrupted. "You didn't see her terror. She was afraid of me. She hasn't looked me in the eye since," he raked his hands through his hair, trembling lightly.

"I didn't, but you have to understand that it's so much more than that," she started gently. "You made heaven and hell real. The reality of it is hard to digest. Just give her time to come to terms with it. She'll realize you are the same man that you've always been."

He had hope that it was true. But it didn't keep him from feeling the loss of what could have been. His fingers danced over the keys, playing the song with a little bit more morose. Likely the only reason the song came to mind.

'When you were here before, couldn't look you in the eye…'

The elevator's bell rang, signifying a visitor that cut off the lyrics. He waited for a beat, continuing the melody without words. He spared the opened doors a glance over one shoulder only to sigh with irritation. "Sorry, love," he kept playing as he spoke. "I'm not in the mood for fun tonight."

The girl was obviously a reveler from downstairs, dressed in a simple black seethe dress with black curls down to her shoulders. Likely, she thought herself to be the picture of temptation. Unfortunately, it took a little bit more than that to tempt the devil. But she didn't say a word. Just stood back, perhaps soaking up his magnificence as he went from one melody to another. He humored her, despite his words feeding off the attention.

The woman moved, the click of her heels giving him enough awareness that he needn't look in her direction to know she was approaching. She came to the piano, her blue eyes luminous but not shining in the same way his detective's did. The self-enforced dry spell he had been suffering from might be quenched with this one, he considered as he watched her open her clutch and rifle through its contents.

She pulled out a necklace, the bronze chain catching in the dim light his living room. She placed the pendant onto the glossy surface of the piano and he gave pause to inspect it. The gem shone red with an unfamiliar power, runes etched into its surface.

Confused, he looked up at the girl expecting some explanation. "This a gift?"

"Et accipere virtutem tuam," she spoke with a hardness that garnered his attention before her words took hold. "Omnes qui estis et quia mea sunt. In isto carcere, et posuit te. Et maneat in carcere." She presented a hand then a blade that seemed to shine with power, she cut it along the length of her palm and held the bloodied paw out over the necklace she'd presented him. Blood dripped onto the gem bringing it to life.

At first, he wanted to scoff, laugh at a mortal toying with something she didn't understand. Then he felt it, like something seizing in his lungs and pulling him taut. He gasped for breath, though air not a complete necessity to him it still bordered painful. His eyes flashed to life and he looked up to the luminous blue eyes of the woman before him. He couldn't breathe to give her an appropriate threat, but when he didn't see the fear in the eyes of this woman he felt like upping his ante. The devil face burned to the surface, fire lighting at his reddened skin as the power of hell seemed to warm him.

Still, he saw no fear.

The pain intensified then, drawing a choking noise from him. Then, inexplicably, his vision went black. He had the sensation of being sucked underwater. Consciousness left him with enough wherewithal to curse his father. Because this had to be his fault.

* * *

Notes:

My token effort at writing a spell. With Google translate in Latin. If you speak latin and notice some HORRIBLE grammar. Sorry. If you speak English and notice horrible grammar. Uh, sorry? Its on par with my coarse.

"I take your power. All that you are and all that you will be are mine. In this prison, I put you and in this prison you will stay."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Same song and dance. I don't own it. I just play with it.  
I decided I'm gonna play with both and bounce back and forth between Luci and Chloe.

* * *

2

Normalcy was something she strived hard to maintain. After everything, from the death of her ex to the revelation of her partner (because, of course, he was the actual devil and not a method actor) she needed things to stay normal. She needed things to stay in their set places. She needed to do everything she could to stay sane.

Despite the fact that he was the devil, he still managed to look surprisingly human. Not considering the oddities that he displayed throughout their partnership and the fact that it all made some sense. He was willing to forget that moment in favor of keeping things normal, this new normal where he was the actual devil. He looked at her with her usual latte in hand, worried but prepared for the worse. "Detective," he said by way of a greeting as he presented the offering.

She considered the best way to react, especially faced with the vulnerability so obvious in those brown eyes. It was a far cry from the face she'd seen, the red raw skin and burning eyes. She couldn't reconcile the two, so she decided the best thing would be to try not to. To just accept him as she always had. He was still the same man she'd been working beside for the last few years. He'd been appreciative in a way she hadn't expected.

It seemed like as soon as the dust settled, as soon as she settled in this new normal, things had to go wrong. Their working relationship had continued unabated because, when he questioned her about it, she had to admit, "I need the eggs."

He snorted at her and rolled his eyes, "We both know that you are perfectly capable without me, Detective."

"Maybe I want the eggs," she sniffed as if it weren't a big deal.

It seemed to sate him. Or so she thought until he disappeared on her again. It was a day where he didn't show up for a case after she sent him a message. Concerned, she stepped away from Ella to call him only to get his voicemail.

"You don't think this is Vegas two point oh, do you?" The forensics scientist asked. "I mean, the first time was pretty lame, if he comes back with another woman on his arm I'm probably gonna kick his butt for you."

"That's not necessary," she said uneasily. "There's nothing going on between us. If he wants to go out and get married again, that's on him. He can afford the lawyers."

"Bull," the small woman snipped irritably. "He's not gonna ruin my Deckerstar ship. I was way off with Pierce. But this ship hasn't sailed, yet," she grumbled as she snapped pictures of the corpse.

She opened her mouth to protest but stopped, Ella didn't know that Lucifer was actually the devil. She thought him just a really devoted method actor. Chloe couldn't give her a valid reason as to why her heart would still pull when she caught him looking at her. When she saw a mournful look on his face that he immediately swept away with innuendo and flirtation.

This absence, while only a day, was something she felt much like the first time he ran from her. "I just wish he'd give me a heads up when he has a crisis like this," she grumbled. "It would save me from worrying."

"And that," Ella said with a grin as she shifted positions to get another picture from a different angle. "That is why the Deckerstar ship is still strong."

One day bled into two. Two into a week. One week into another. By the third, when he didn't come traipsing into the princit with another hopeless blonde on his arm she caved and went to Lux. She waved the familiar bartenders and bouncers before she made her way to the elevator that took her up to the penthouse.

She steeled herself, ready to see sheets over everything. She readied herself to find the apartment filled with debauchery only to have the doors open and show her his penthouse. There were no sheets, there was no party. But there was, also, no Lucifer.

There were tell-tale signs that he'd been there. There was a tumbler on the top of the piano, an ashtray with two stubbed out cigarettes. There was an ornate decanter on the bartop that the stopper had sat next to it, there was still a quarter of brown liquor in it.

She walked further into the living room and saw a black jacket thrown carelessly over the arm of the couch. She took a moment to try to remember the last time she'd seen it on him, it looked familiar but she couldn't place when. How many days had it been that she last saw him? She bit her lip and carefully trekked into his bedroom, fearful of what she might see.

The bed was made, looking as if it hadn't been slept in. It was neater than she expected. There was no clothing on the floor, no lacy things that would be from a partner that didn't know he was the devil and had no problem crawling into his bed. There were no worries of Heaven or Hell for them, places that she didn't think existed up until the point she was confronted with the startling reality of the truth.

She went as far as to peek into his closet, to see if there was anything disturbed in the walk-in. She spotted a carry on bag hanging from a hook by a full-length mirror. It was starting to look like he didn't whisk himself away on some sort of escape. Like Vegas, as she suspected he had done at first.

She pulled her phone out and made an attempt to call him, only to bite her lip to keep from cursing when she heard the ringtone echo through the living room. The phone was here. She ended the call before the voicemail picked up and called the next closest person that she could think of.

Linda answered on the second ring, sounding happy to hear from her, "Chloe. I was just thinking about you." She thought perhaps that was clue enough that Lucifer had been talking about her to his doctor. Maybe he hadn't been gone as long as she thought he had. "What can I do for you?"

"Lucifer's ghosted me again," she said without bothering to hide her irritation. "Have you seen him?"

The other end of the line was quiet and she heard the other woman flipping through a notebook. "He canceled a few appointments on me. He… he's not been taking the revelation well," she admitted with a worried tone in her voice. "Even though he said you took it well. I don't think he would just disappear on us again." She hummed then sighed, "I've been busy. It's been well over two weeks since I last saw him. Do you think everything is okay?"

"I don't know," she released a breath. "It looks like he's been home, but if he vanished he didn't make any attempt to pack or close up the penthouse."

Linda hummed as she seemed to carefully choose her words. "After everything that's happened and how he felt the last time we had spoke, I don't think he would run away. Not now," there was a pause as if the other woman seemed to consider something. "Not unless something had happened from upstairs?"

"Upstairs?" She echoed, not following.

"Angels," the doctor's voice lowered, "aren't supposed to kill humans. It was something that Amenadiel and Lucifer said often. You don't think he's in trouble, do you?"

She didn't at first, but now she didn't know. Lucifer had confided that his doctor knew. Told her if she needed to talk about it with anyone that Linda was the person to go. Aside from the fact that the doctor was a friend, she was a particularly great listener and she knew… she knew how to handle the otherworldliness that came with Lucifer.

"I-I don't know," she admitted after a length. "I just… I just thought he ghosted me."

"Call Maze," the doctor instructed. "I'll ride by Lux. Let me finish up here. We can see if we can't figure out what happened."

"I'll call Maze," she nodded and ended the call. There was something unsettling by the things Linda'd mentioned. If anyone else would know what happened, surely it would be Maze. The demon had kept her distance from the detective. She hadn't made any more attempt to come home or reached out for anything since the ill-fated bachelorette party.

Trixie had missed her, even with her hurt feelings. Foolishly, she had let the demon lead how their relationship would go. While Lucifer was the devil and held a certain power she had only glimpsed at, Maze was a demon that made no attempt to hide her recklessness or just how dangerous she really was. So, she didn't press her to come home.

She felt uneasy calling the demon, but she wasn't about to not do it. She only feared that the other woman wouldn't answer. After five rings the phone connected and the emotionless voice crept into her ear, "What?"

She took a breath, feeling terrible that after all this time she hadn't reached out to the demon. Hadn't checked on her. "Have you seen Lucifer?"

"He's pissed at me," was her response. "He's not talking to me."

"It's been three weeks," she went on as if she hadn't heard her. "The penthouse looks like he's been here, but… like he vanished."

There were a curse and a snort, "I doubt he would go back to Hell. Unless you flat out rejected him. Did you tell him to fuck off, Decker?"

"I didn't," she supplied quickly. "I-I thought we were okay. We… we weren't trying for anything than what we have been." She suddenly felt like she was on the spot, even though the demon wasn't there to interrogate her. "He said it was enough."

There was silence on the other end of the line like the demon was processing what she had said. "I'm on a hunt," she finally admitted. "I'm too far from LA to help you. But, you're a detective. You should be able to figure out what's going on. If you do," she paused to sniff lightly. "Let me know," then she ended the call.

She cursed lightly and went to the elevator. The only thing she could think to do was to question the people that worked here. Surely, they'd help if they realized Lucifer was missing. Right?

Chloe went for the bar, getting drawing the bartender's attention away from the inventory he had been taking. He gave her a smile just shy of flirting as he came to see her. "Would you like a drink, Detective?" It was funny how his employees would refer to her by her station as he did. It made her wonder if any of them knew her actual name.

"Have you seen Lucifer lately?" She asked hazardly. "He's not been at the precinct in a couple of weeks and I can't get a hold of him."

The bartender rolled a shoulder, "Manager said we're supposed to operate business as usual when the Boss isn't here. But it's been a few weeks since he's been down here to play. I don't remember the last time he took women upstairs with him, either." There wasn't a bit of worry in the younger man's expression. It was as if Lucifer's people were used to his random disappearances.

It was a little unnerving.

"Do you have surveillance cameras by any chance?" She never really investigated Lux behind the scenes, aside from the investigation into Delilah's murder and then later the Preacher. There hadn't been cameras then, but maybe Lucifer had wised up at some point.

"There was a few installed," he paused and picked up a walkie talkie. "Maggie. The boss's detective is here asking about cameras."

A woman that looked as if she were more at home on a catwalk instead of managing a bar in the absence of the club's owners. Her expression was no nonsense though and she leveled a look at the detective that was speculative. "Detective Decker," she said by way of greeting. "Do you have a warrant?"

"No," she admitted easily. "I'm not here to bring up charges on anyone. I'm looking for Lucifer. He's not been to the precinct in a few weeks."

"Have you checked upstairs?" Maggie asked curiously, the suspicion leaving her face. "He's not been down here in a few weeks either. Sometimes he disappears without warning."

Chloe nodded without hesitation. "It looks like he's been home. But, he's not up there."

"If someone snatched him the only way for them to bring him out would be to drag him through the club," the woman said and with a wave directed her back to an open door.

It was a storage room, filled to near the ceiling with wooden crates of bottles of high-end liquor. There was a dishwasher in one corner and plastic crates of tumblers that she knew Lucifer favored. There was another open door that she could see to be a tiny little office. There was an employee schedule to the right of it a long list of dancers, bartenders, and wait staff. It looked well plotted out and organized.

The office was tidy, with a computer cramped on the little desk and a printer crowded on top of a metal filing cabinet. Maggie sat down at the computer and after pulling up a program she looked back up at Chloe. "Do you have an idea how far back we should look?"

"The last time I saw Lucifer was about three weeks ago. A Tuesday night," she reported then watched at the other woman eyed the calendar then pulled up two screened video surveillance of the club. There was a few of the elevator and one of the door. A quick drop down and she had a view of Lucifer walking into the club at eleven thirty. There was another view of him stepping into the elevator at eleven thirty-two, a tumbler in one of his hands and he was alone.

"That's him coming home," Maggie commented as she sped through the feed. Her brows draw together as a line of faces filtered through one screen, but the elevator didn't see nearly as much action as the door. No one made any attempts to go upstairs. Nor did Lucifer come downstairs.

It was pushing three am when they saw a woman approach the elevator. She hit the up button and turned to give the club a cursory look. No one stopped her. The feed slowed long enough for them to watch her step onto the elevator. At this angle, they could see the woman hold a hand at the keypad that would allow her upstairs. Then the doors closed.

"Does she look familiar?" She asked Maggie, knowing it was probably a futile question. Lucifer had so many men and woman coming through his bedroom she probably didn't see the same person twice.

Maggie shook her head then rolled a shoulder, "You know him well enough to know the answer to that."

They kept their eyes on the monitor, watching the elevator. It wasn't thirty minutes later that the same woman came out of it with a satisfied smirk on her face. Eventually, she was seen making her way out of the club's front door.

"Usually," Maggie frowned. "They stay the night. He's not a quick one."

"You know from experience?" She asked curiously.

"You haven't?" The club manager shot back with a raised eyebrow.

Chloe shook her head, "Let me get you to rewind that so I can get a shot of her face. Maybe I can find her and find out what happened to Lucifer." They watched again as the woman walked back into the club backward. Pausing only until there was a decent view of her face where they paused it. Chloe had her phone out and snapped a picture.

Maggie went as far as getting a screenshot and emailed it to her. "If you think he's in trouble, bring him back to us. When he goes MIA like this it gets slow," it was a lie. She was sure of it. But it was obvious from the woman's expression where her loyalties were.

Chloe left the storage room to wait at the bar for Linda. Taking her time to send the photos to Ella to get her to do a search in the database. It was a little bit of a relief to have a direction. If they got a hit then they'd be closer to finding him.

Hopefully, he was okay.

At that thought, she went back upstairs with new eyes. It was time to case the place and look for signs of a struggle. She resisted the temptation to give Ella a call, to get her better-trained eyes on the case with her. When Linda appeared upstairs and turned to grill the doctor, "It doesn't look like he disappeared. But there's no sign of him leaving the club either."

"Well," Linda stood at the bar, watching her with a worried expression. "He has wings. He could have flown off the balcony."

That gave her pause. She wasn't looking for a normal man. Suddenly, she was back at square one. Then what Maze said came back to her. 'I doubt he would've gone back to Hell.' If he did that, there would be no way for her to tell. She looked back at the doctor helplessly, "What do I do now? I didn't know he had wings."

Linda's expression looked surprised, shocked. "I don't think he would've done that. He had a general disdain for his wings. I think the only time he would likely use them if the situation were dire. So," she cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses, "Unless there was a situation that called for him to leave in a hurry, I doubt he would use them."

"You mentioned Angels weren't supposed to kill humans," there wasn't any reassurance in the placating manner that the doctor talked.

"Did you call Maze?" Worry was now in the other woman. The doctor went over to the sliding door that led out to the balcony, deciding to help look for clues for their wayward devil.

"She said she was on the hunt for a bounty," she paused to release a breath. "So unless something comes back from Ella then we're stuck waiting."

"We'll find something," Linda sounded resolute as she went out onto the balcony.

* * *

I'm listening to music while I write this. Tenacious D came on as I was and I have to wonder… has Lucifer heard The Greatest Song in the world? And for that matter… has he ever been down to Georgia?

Weird questions posed to you by a weirdo.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own it, I'm just playing with it.  
Rating disclaimer: It'll happen. I just gotta set the mood, man.  
**

* * *

3

There was something to being stuck in a place, unable to move or breathe, with the knowledge that you couldn't die. It sucked at him in a way that no other torture that he had endured ever had. It was a far cry from anything he'd ever experienced in Hell. Granted, he was well aware that the act of depriving a soul of what it perceived as necessities was an act of torture that was practiced within the gates of Hell.

But he wasn't in Hell, now. He knew that. There was the glaring radiant light from the gem he was somehow housed within. It drew power from him in a way he couldn't understand. But he still felt weak. What were these humans after from him? He couldn't fathom what they were trying to achieve.

He tried to reach out for help. Praying desperately to Amenadiel and when he was still stuck in this bright shining version of Hell he reached out to his other siblings. Sending out a gasping cry to Azrael and even Michael.

All to for nothing for he stayed held in this iridescent Hell.

It occurred to him then, that this was his punishment for ending Cain. That he would be trapped here, never seeing his detective again. Never finding that sliver of happiness he had tasted again.

* * *

It took Maze two days to get back to LA. It worked her patience to know that she was losing time when the demon was more concerned with a paycheck. Fortunately, Ella had gotten a hit on the facial recognition software for the woman they had spotted in Lux.

"Karen Douglas. Twenty-two. Her ID is from Oregon, but she was busted with heroin upstate but made bail two months ago," the little lab tech reported. "Looks like she skipped bail though," she gave her a frown.

"That might be enough to get Maze involved if she knows she'll make money off of it," Chloe sighed.

"You think she has something to do with Lucifer disappearing?" Ella asked as she set aside the keyboard down. The picture of the woman she had seen going into Lux on the screen. "You don't think he ran off with her, do you?" Her lip curled a little bit, granted Karen was younger by about ten years but that didn't seem to matter to the lab tech. "I swear, my foot is going so far up his ass I'm going to be wearing him as a boot."

"I don't know what's going on," she admitted. "I've passed the case I was on to Dan so he can solve it for me while I try to figure out what happened to Lucifer."

Ella blinked at the detective, "You think its foul play? You don't think he just ran off?"

"I don't know," she repeated. "See if you can pull anything else up on Douglas. Activity that puts her in the area or leaving the area. If you can give me a direction, Ella, we'll owe you."

When Maze came into the precinct she immediately pulled her into the Forensic Scientist's lab to feed her the information that they had so far. Not giving the demon enough to offer her up a greet anyone. She then bombarded her with the information that she had, "No one's seen hide nor hair of him."

"I already told you he's pissed at me," the demon said without a care to the lab tech presently listening. Her lip curled as she eyed the detective, "Linda said you know, now, too. What's to say he didn't go back to Hell?"

"What?" Ella looked confused.

"Give us a minute, will you?" Chloe wasn't ready to air out the existence of the devil, demons, and angels to the entire precinct. Even if the demon in question didn't seem to care about hiding her identity.

Ella nodded uneasily but took her time edging out of the lab. She lingered at the door before Maze gave an irritated huff then she fled to give them privacy. "Little Ellen is dying to know what we're getting into. She doesn't like secrets, but she's not gonna press for answers."

"I think she's hoping for more Tribe stuff," Chloe sighed lightly before directing her attention to the picture on the screen. "She was seen going into the penthouse and coming out, the last day Lucifer was seen. Does she look familiar to you?"

Maze stepped up behind her studying the picture on the screen, "She's human if that's what you're asking."

"You've never seen her?" She asked again, glancing at the demon.

Maze shook her head, "You think she's capable of doing something to Lucifer? This little human?" She tilted her head, looking hard at the screen, "I don't see anything special here. How could someone like this pose any sort of danger to the devil? Unless you've been hanging out at Lux?"

That was a confusing thing to say. Chloe turned away from the computer screen and looked at Maze curiously, "The last I saw him was at the end of a shift. He said he was going to go drown himself in a few of his favorite things. Maybe she was involved?"

"He's gotten to where he prefers blondes," Maze commented without any apparent care to how she would react to her. "Give me an hour to get in touch with some connections, I'll see if she's still in LA or if there's a trail at all. Once I have something I'll let you know."

Chloe nodded, "I'll pay your usual fee." It went without saying, but she felt the need to assure the demon.

"I'm not doing this for you. He can pay me when we find him. If it's something serious…," she trailed off after a beat her eyes narrowing. "I'm doing this for me."

Ulterior motives, she'd figure it all out after they found Lucifer safe and sound.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just play with them.**

* * *

4

"Oregon," Maze slapped down a map on her desk. "That was the last place her debit card was used. It was two days ago. We need to get up there now to catch this bitch." The demon's hands were planted on her hips like she expected an argument.

Chloe was sure if she tried to object that there might be a scuffle that would end up her cuffed in the car. "Let me get Dan to handle Trixie and let the acting lieutenant a heads up that I'll need a few days for this," she was up and walking as she spoke. Dan wouldn't put up a fight, since Charlotte's death he had been lingering around the apartment spending extra time with the both of them. While there was a new sense of animosity that had ignited towards Lucifer, he seemed to see the importance of finding her wayward partner.

"As big as a pain in the ass he is," her ex-husband started. "He's got a pretty good cover on yours. I've got no problem keeping Trixie solo. It'll keep me occupied." He waved her away, "Just bring his ass back so we can tear him a new one for being an idiot."

Dan was a whole lot easier than getting the acting lieutenant to agree to allow her to have a few personal days without any notice. "It's a personal emergency," she said, standing in the office that Pierce-Cain-had once occupied. "That's time sensitive. I have personal days that are available, I've got Detective Espinoza to take any cases that fall on my desk while I'm gone. He is more than capable of taking my slack."

She was met with an emotionless look and she thought he was going to kick up a fuss. "Does this have anything to do with the consultant partner of yours?" Detective Cole asked without any sort of hesitation.

"It does," she couldn't hide her suspicions.

"Two days," he typed into his computer as he spoke to her. "Then I'll need you back at your desk solving cases."

They were going to have to be quick then.

* * *

At some point, the act of not breathing grew more painful. His heart began to pound and stutter. His vision of the red bright light of his prison began to fade. It made him think that death was finally upon him after so long. He lost count of the hours, not that he had a really been keeping track.

Darkness bled in and he saw nothing, his heart slowed. He had one last fleeting thought of his detective, a memory of her golden hair and a wistful smile. The feel of her lips and the taste, oh the taste. He would never get that again.

Would this be the end of him? Or would he end up in Hell again?

A light pierced the gentle grasp of death, taking a hold of him and clenching around him tightly. His heart thundered back to life with a power he hadn't felt since the rebellion. There was a crack as if lightning had struck the earth and before he could question it he was cast out. He had just enough time to catch himself with his hands before he met an unfamiliar wooden floor.

He managed a gasp, struggling to get air back into his lungs when he felt a familiar signature. A demon-his demon. "Mazikeen!" He bellowed, rage at being imprisoned taking him. There was a cry of fear from somewhere behind him and the familiar signature was strong.

His demon fell to her knees before him, the picture of subservience. He didn't even need to see her face to know she was rampet for his order. "Kill them all," he hissed out. He didn't give a damn about how they had managed to capture them and hold him, or why he felt so weak. There wasn't a care about how he was broken out of the prison, just that everyone responsible would meet their end.

Maze's demon blades were in her fists and she was up, vanishing to do his bidding. What followed were screams that soothed the aches in him. His chest burned and the fires that created his devil face licked at his reddened skin. His wings draped uselessly around him making him feel like he had fallen from high again. Why was he so weak?

"You can't kill them," his detective's voice cried out and he looked up to see her kicking in the front door. "This isn't how we're supposed to do this," she barked it out like a command, but she looked around the darkened room for his demon to no avail. She wouldn't be able to find her, from the muffled sounds of a struggle overhead it sounded as if Mazikeen was busy carrying out her orders.

"How!" A familiar voice caught his attention and he cast a look over his shoulder, the girl from Lux. Her face was pale and her eyes were huge, her dark hair hung around her face like a curtain and she sat, just as limp as he with her back against what looked like an altar. Paraphernalia was strewn from it, a tome open at her feet. "How did you do this?" She demanded of him.

He mustered up enough strength to raise up on his knees, his wings flared outward to give the bitch behind a full view of his gruesome glory, "I am the Lord of Hell. There is no magick that can hold me."

"Don't you move," Chloe's voice barked out and he thought for a hot moment she was shooting the command at him. But with his attention on the foolish woman that had trapped him, he saw a dagger clutched in her hand. "Put the knife down."

"Mazikeen," he snapped loudly, pressing out with his dwindling reserves to make his power quake through the room.

The demon appeared like the dutiful soldier, blood drenching her blades and her face an expression bordered reverence. This was work his demon thrived on and she was all too eager to continue with his command. "Why are you still here?" Her voice was hard, despite her doing his bidding, she was likely still under the false impression she was free of him. "Get him out," she shot over a shoulder to the human in the doorway.

He didn't dare look towards his detective, not with the devil face still burning at the surface. But he heard her gun holster and the steps she took to close the distance between them. "Will he burn me?" There was a quiver of fear in her voice and it was enough for him to release the Hellfire that burned through him.

"No," his demon answered for him. "He's just a little hot."

"Find out if there are more," he commanded. "Destroy everything here. Burn it all to the ground." He felt cool hands on his shoulders and it was like a balm on him. He waived as if he were drunk.

"We need to call the police," Chloe said as she eased against his side, tugging an arm over her shoulder. "You can't murder them," her voice was hard.

"They know what he is," Maze saved him the explanation while he struggled to stay afloat as everything came melting out of him. "They didn't use human means to hold him. Allowing them to live doesn't just put humans in danger it puts everything that isn't human in danger. If they caught and held Lucifer, there's no telling what they managed to do with him. If they released more demons or damned souls from Hell," his demon stepped closer to his captor, the sadistic glee obvious on her features now. "All the Hell you raised. I get to find out and I'm going to have so much fun getting you to tell me."

The body beside him tensed and Chloe pulled him up to his feet, "I don't want to watch this. C'mon." Her arm came around his waist, wedging up beneath his wings and she tugged him close.

He let her lead him from the room, struggling to not put all his weight on his human. Unfortunately, he had no way to reel himself in. She didn't make any objections to it as she tugged him from the broad, open room. They stumbled together until he felt the bite of cold air on his skin. It was enough for him to take into account the fact that the entire time he had been held captive, he'd been stripped of everything.

Clothing, power, his true face in exchange for his devil face, the will to keep his wings away.

"Mazikeen," he released a pained noise as they crossed the gravel parking lot to head towards his detective's car. "She shouldn't have brought you."

"She helped me find you," Chloe said gently. "If I hadn't brought it to her attention that you were gone there's a very good chance you'd still be in there." She paused to fish her keys from a pocket, she hit the fob to unlock the car and then the trunk sprung open. "We didn't know what happened to you, there was no sign of a struggle. You were just gone. I couldn't just let it be."

"I don't deserve the dedication," he hissed though he didn't have it in him to pull away. He barely managed to restrain himself from pressing his nose into her hair and taking comfort from her familiar scent. He wanted to. He wanted to wrap his arms and wings around her and just let the aches ease on their own. With her here, every ache was magnified. Every little rock he stepped on sharper in his bare feet.

"I think that's something for me to decide," she snapped. "Just like it is not up to you to decide whether or not these people deserve to die," she pressed him to the side of the car. "Can you hold yourself up?" At his nod, she left him to dig through her open trunk. "I can't believe I just let it happen, I should have stopped her."

"They held my power in their hands as they held me," he tried to break it easily to her. "The power of an angel isn't limitless, nor is my power. There is likely many repercussions that occurred while I was being held. But you need to consider how the outcome would be worse if they had captured another."

She had a blanket in hand as she came back to him, unfolding it as she eyed him down. "What other angels are on earth? Amenadiel?"

"It's possible," he released a shaky breath, trying and failing to call up his more human features. He glared at the raw, burned skin when it didn't cooperate. "Amenadiel is likely still in the Silver City. If he was unwilling to give me aid in a dire moment, then it isn't likely that he is back on earth. Azrael," he gave her a hard look. "The Angel of Death, on the other hand, is on earth ferry the dead into the afterlife. Were my sister a victim of my circumstance, the situation could be even worse than we know."

Her features went blank for a moment and he could see that there was something at war within her. The sharp cry that echoed from the warehouse behind them sealed it. His demon was a master at her craft.

"You're right," she went to wrap the blanket around his waist as if it were a towel. "It doesn't mean I have to like it."

"You needn't worry yourself, detective," he winced as she edged him away from the car and opened the door. "After we are back in LA I will see to it that no more of my consequence bothers you."

"I think you're forgetting the fact that I," she pressed her finger into his chest, her blue eyes glaring into him as if she were completely unfazed by his devil face. "I came here to help you. You don't get to disappear on me just because I don't like the situation." She didn't give him the opportunity to protest. "Can you put the wings away so you can get in the car?"

He looked down at her with a little confusion weighing on him now. There was a lingering bit of fear to her, but she looked at him and not away. She touched him without hesitation and there was a confidence about her that he couldn't understand, like she knew what she was dealing with when in fact there was no possibility of it.

"You're not afraid of me?" He didn't resist the urge to ask.

"I'm fucking terrified," she bit out in response, clinging to the blanket she had draped around his hips. "But out of all this that's happening you're the one thing I know that's least likely to hurt me."

Her words touched him in a way he couldn't comprehend. Instead of responding, he opted to do as she requested, rolling his shoulders so the two large, limbs would disappear. They didn't, they just lolled with the movement of his shoulders. He struggled to concentrate on the act of them vanishing, but still, they persisted. "I.. I'm too weak to will them away," he pulled a face at having to admit it.

"Well," she looked a little concerned as she looked between him and the car. "We need to get you out of view. It's probably going to be uncomfortable. But we'll get to a safe place where you can rest," she put a hand on his stomach and with a little maneuvering, he was easing into the back of the car. His right wing curled forward into the front seat, blocking the windows.

She took her time to brush the rocks from the soles of his feet. Chloe backed out of the car and made a noise as she turned back to the building. "How long will she be?" She asked with a seriousness that he felt. Still disapproving. She had a fire that was like an avenging angel, perhaps that was why he was so drawn to her.

"As long as it needs to take. They weren't innocents, detective," he assured her. "You will not allow the memory of this to weigh on you," he said it like a command like he had power over her that he did his demon. The idea of guilt dragging her down to hell caused him to feel something in him set ablaze.

She didn't say a word after that. He wasn't foolish enough to believe she would follow his demand. Even if he was the devil, there was no denying it now that she'd seen him fully and without a stitch of clothing on.

There went any chances he might have of bedding the woman.

It was an hour before his demon appeared next to his detective. "There won't be any evidence," she said to Chloe, giving her a solid thump on the shoulder before she jerked the driver side door open. "The place will go up in smoke and any chance they have of putting it out are slim until it gets down to the foundation," she climbed into the car, slithering over the center console with a grace only a demon would have. "Let's get out of here."

"Hellfire?" He asked with a little satisfaction, the beasts would be getting awfully familiar with it where they were going. "A good lesson to teach them," he adjusted the heavy weight of his left wing so his detective could close the door. "Did you get anything useful?"

"A few things," she put a necklace on the center console, the pendant held what looked like a broken gem. "I figure we take that to Ellen she'll be able to tell us anything about that. Plus I found what looks like a book of Shadows. Maybe it'll tell us what they were up to."

"I don't know that Ella has any experience with supernatural objects," Chloe commented as she sat down behind the wheel. "Did she say whether or not they were the only ones with this kind of power to do this to… to you guys?"

"She didn't say shit," his demon began to pick her teeth. "She couldn't figure out how he got out. That's what we're gonna need to figure out, too. Just in case something like this happens again," she shot him a glance. "It's not safe to just assume like there's not more."

"Consider me on guard," he murmured, struggling to stay awake.

"Let's get as far from this place as we can, then we can talk about what happens next," Chloe said reasonably.

The sense of urgency left the car and the quiet swept him away. He didn't even consider the skin he was in. It was just the fact that he was so tired.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own it, I just like to play with it.  
This guy is not to be confused with ole yelloweyes from another fandom.

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5

There wasn't much to this stretch of desert. Dried out grass and weeds, sand as far as the eye could see. It was hard to believe that this was a place of torment for someone. Harder to believe, still, that they were on Earth after all this time. He just had to dig to get to them.

He released a sigh, not at all looking forward to the task that had been given to him. He was a demon. Any work he did he preferred in the confines of Hell. He was used to that heat and not the piercing scorch of the Sun on this plane. The longer he dawdled the longer this would take. He dug his hands into the sand, feeling the power beneath it and began his search.

The art of tossing sand through his spread legs seeming the best route to take. It helped with the supernatural strength and speed his kind were gifted with. Otherwise, the pit he dug would've likely refilled itself.

Night fell and still, he dug, his only light the stars and bright merry moon. It worked well the highlight the face that came to surface first. Eyes were closed and after a careful sweep of usually gentle fingers, he had the full face clean. "See the light," he commanded the face. "See the light and rise again. Your punishment has ended and it is your time to lead us."

The eyes shot open and the features contorted, there was a gasping breath and a struggled grunt. "I am bound still," it hissed.

"Y-yes," he stuttered as he went in search of arms and chains. "I just had to make sure you were still here."

"Has judgment day finally come?"

"No," he found a wrist that was bound in irons. It took time, the metals used weren't of this earth, but he managed to get that wrist free. "But Lucifer has forsaken Hell. A door was opened and we were freed. The first thing I thought to do was come to you and free you."

"Do I know you, demon?"

"No," he said as he went after the other wrist. "But I remember your fall. I remember your knowledge. And if Hell is to rise to take this plane we can only do it with your help, Azazel."

"I will not be cast into the first for this world to be reborn," Azazel snarled and with a jerk his wrist was free. He sat up sending a flurry of sand everywhere. "I will not be sacrificed again!"

"N-no!" The demon bowed lowly, "No sacrifice!" He fidgeted as he fought to find the words to appease the fallen angel, "We seek freedom as He did. We see the knowledge that You offered the humans. We seek the power to rise as something more than fodder."

"You want my knowledge?" The fallen angel sneered.

"Lead us," he had no issue with begging, not to a creature that had the power to destroy him. "Your fall was due to Lucifer, you can use our numbers to rise up and take Hell, take the humans you corrupted, and take the Silver City."

The fallen angel sat in the sand, looking around the pit that the demon had dug. The millennia he had lain there waiting for what would be his true doom. "Free me," he commanded. "Then we will see what's to come next."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own it, I just like to play with it.  
I like road trips and I'm trying not to play up a road trip where Chloe has to hollar, "If you two don't stop it right now I'm turning this car around."

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6

She pulled off the interstate when her eyes began to burn. The other two people in the car were already out, the demon beside her making barely a sound while the devil behind her had his head tilted back against the seat and was openly snoring. She was gonna remember that the next time he had a smart remark about how she slept. She could practically see the back windows shaking.

She pulled into a dingy motel parking lot and fished her phone out of her pocket. It looked like a step below Motel 6, but the price on the sign was right and she didn't have the disposable income that demons and angels seemed to have. She opened up her bank's app to see if she could afford multiple rooms, not that she minded sharing. The idea of squeezing onto a bed with the two of them was unappealing. The heat Lucifer put off was nearing unbearable. The only thing that kept her from rolling down the windows as she was sure the noise would likely disturb the two of them.

Lucifer looked like he could use the rest. She thought. The devil face, as she had heard it be referred to, was a little harder to read than the face she was familiar with. If he was stuck like this, though, she was sure she'd get used to it.

"Where are we?" Maze didn't even sound tired, she just looked confused.

"I need to sleep," she answered honestly. "It took us ten plus hours to get to him and that was at the end of my shift," she rubbed a hand over her face. "I can't keep going like this without falling asleep and killing us all."

"Pull to the back of the lot," the demon instructed. "As far from the door as you can. That way no one spots him or is able to get him on camera."

She wanted to whine about it, she was way too tired to walk a mile to the door, but she did as she was told. God only knew what would happen if pictures of Lucifer showed up in the papers like this. It was hard enough to wrap her mind around the fact that heaven and hell were real, something she preferred to not think about. She pulled as far from the street lights as she could. Then she trotted into the lobby to get them a room, determined to get this done as quick as possible.

It took about half an hour, first she had to rouse the sleepy clerk then she had to wait for the dial-up to connect. Because apparently there were still people in this day and age that used dial-up. Fortunately, she was able to get two rooms that were connected. By the time she got the keys, she felt like she was dead on her feet. But she made it back out to the car to pull around to where the clerk had directed her.

Lucifer was still asleep, but Maze seemed to be on high alert. The demon was on guard in a way that set her on edge. It woke her up enough that she didn't rush to get them out of the car and into a bed. "Everything alright?"

"I think they opened a gate," Maze said simply. "I don't know how to explain it, but I feel it." She patted her chest as she spoke, "I feel it right here in me."

"What does it feel like?" She asked, unable to hide her curiosity.

"It's like gnats, a hundred of them," she spoke softly. "Buzzing in my chest."

"What does that mean?"

"Demons," Lucifer hoarsed from behind them. "She feels the demons that escaped Hell."

They both twisted around to look at the devil behind him. Sometime between her booking the room to driving around to them the devil face had melted away to the pale skin and dark hair she was familiar with. "How?"

"Demons were forged in the bowels of Hell," Maze answered for him. "We are Hellfire cast meat suits. With the exception to the angels that were cast out of heaven, they have souls. We don't. So," she rolled a shoulder and looked at Chloe with a depth that was hard to decipher. There was weight to it that had her paying full attention to the demon's words, "We're all interconnected. I can't track my brethren, but when they're close I can feel them."

It felt ominous, her words. "Not all demons are like you, are they?" Chloe asked.

"They are not," Lucifer answered for her. "Can we get out of the bloody car now?"

"Your devil face is gone," Maze answered him. "Can you put your wings away?"

"I'm sitting on the bloody things," he reached around the left one to shove open the door.

"Help him out," Chloe got out of the car and made room so Maze could get out, too. "I'll open up the door."

There was a struggle where his right wing had gotten stuck. There was a string of curses and after she had one door flung open she went to help get him the process his blanket was lost so anyone that might be up at this hour would be able to see a demon struggling to get a nude angel out of the back of her car.

While the devil face went away the wings were more persistent. They walked him in like he were drunk, the fact that he was back in familiar skin wasn't nearly as comforting as she thought it would be. Though that could be because she was seeing his bare ass and other parts were something she could've gone without seeing. The fact that he didn't seem to have a care about his nudity was something she was used to, at least.

Chloe tugged down the dusty comforter and top sheet so he could crawl onto the bed. "It stinks," he groaned after pillowing his head on his arms. It didn't keep him from dropping off.

"I don't have the funds for anything four-star," she went to open the neighboring room. Once she was in the room she opened the door that joined the two rooms. She gave it a knock and Maze was quick to open the door for her.

"He's gonna repay you," the demon assured her.

"I'm not worried about that, I'm more worried about whether or not you can keep your hands to yourself," she turned to head to the bed, tugging back the comforter and top sheet.

"Don't kid yourself, Decker," the demon followed her in, kicking off her shoes. "You're a cuddler and we both know it."

* * *

The beasts before him weren't his brethren. They were soulless monsters that Hell birthed with no real rule, not now that Lucifer had vacated the throne. They looked to him hungrily, needing leadership like wild dogs.

He wasn't an archangel, he didn't have the power that had been bestowed upon the Lightbringer. He'd merely been a watcher of humanity, corrupting with it with knowledge that his Father didn't think they needed. He often wondered what left him at the bottom of that pit, not knowing if it were the gift of inappropriate knowledge or the fact that they had lain with the humans and took them as wives.

He thought, perhaps, it was the latter.

"No former angels?" He asked the creature that had unearthed him.

"They elected to stay in Hell. Any fallen that escaped Hell did so when the Lord retired," it said from where it sat prostate at his feet. "We tried," it began, "to bargain with all that was like you."

"They wouldn't agree to it," he accepted easily. "It's an easy understanding when knowing they would face Samael, Lucifer the Lightbringer once God's favorite son. What you want," he looked out at the gathering of creatures that looked to him with hope. "What you want is fruitless. He reigned over Hell for Millennia without an uprising. I don't have his power."

"We fought him," another creature objected. "We have numbers and he has weaknesses! With your lead," the creature looked female as it edged forward. "With your Knowledge, we can win. Lucifer can join us or he can parish then we can take the war to the Silver City!"

It was an ideal he didn't think demons were capable of. There was no chance of any of it working. Even with the vast numbers of Hell didn't stand a chance against Heaven's warriors. But, a smile stretched across his face and he felt something he hadn't felt since his judgment was cast upon him.

"Lucifer has weaknesses?"


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it, I'm just playing with it.

* * *

7

The drive from the motel, somewhere outside of Redding he didn't have it in him to give a damn, was long. Fortunately, Mazikeen had convinced his detective to go out and fetch him some clothing and breakfast. It put enough distance between them for his supernatural healing abilities to kick in and override the mortal rate that he had been recouping the expelled energy from the misadventure.

The clothes were something that he wouldn't have chosen for himself. Sweats that weren't even pure cotton, some mixture of synthetic fabrics that itched along his inner thighs. The underwear she brought him was at least a higher quality boxer brief, he wasn't sure he'd be able to look at her again if she dared bring him a pair of manties. The shirt was a plain white thing that was of the same quality as the sweats and she even got him a hooded monstrosity that his brother would be more at home in than he would. He felt like a dime bag hoodlum that offered the skank weed to dimwitted humans.

"What are we going to do about the demons that this let loose?" She was on edge and he thought it likely that she didn't sleep much the night before.

Even with the opportunity to share a bed with his detective, the chance she got to press close to the other woman wasn't lost on him. Of course, he was envious of the demon. But there was also the afterthought of the two women together that he didn't mind at all entertaining. It offered him a good enough distraction.

"Let them be free-willed as you are," he said without thought to the consequences. "You are an example to the fact that demons are fully capable of living among humans."

His demon made a noise from the front seat, casting a glare back at him. "As soon as they are confronted with emotions they will go mad and who do you think is going to suffer?"

"If," he snorted, "something like that were to happen then you get the opportunity to hunt each of them down and put them down." He smiled as he eyed her, "Surely they would be a better sport than the humans you hunt now."

"How dangerous would it be?" His detective joined the conversation, where before she'd been concentrating on the road. "How likely are they to hurt people now?"

That would be a concern for her because this was uncharted territory for her. The only demon she ever had contact with was Mazikeen and while his demon could be volatile she'd not actually hurt anyone. That he was aware of. He considered his answer carefully, "Demons can be violent, but the spend the majority of their time watching over the torment of damned souls."

It was supposed to appease her but he could see from the look she shot back at him through the rearview mirror, that it did anything but. His detective was a worrier. It was part of the reason why she was going the speed limit. The reason why she demanded his demon wear a seatbelt and the reason why she kept her full attention on the road.

"I suppose I could take time to find the loose demons to employ them, give them direction for good rather than the foulness that they are capable of," it sounded like more work than what he was willing to do after the whole ordeal he just finished. But it could be added to the list, especially after he found out why none of his siblings had bothered to come to his aid.

It left a hollow feeling in his chest, especially all that he and Amenideal had been through. He thought, perhaps, that his brother would be the last fleeting connection he had to home, the Silver City not Hell. Even if it were a place he could never return to.

"As soon as we get to home," Mazikeen spoke up, "I'll begin the hunt. I'll just need to pack more than my blades for this." She had her attention his detective, "I'll make sure any demons I come across will know who not to cross."

"Giving them knowledge of Chloe and the offspring hardly seems advantageous, Mazikeen," he sat up closer to speak to her through the grate that separated the front from the back. "If any demon so much thinks to come close to them I will eliminate them myself."

"Does me associating with you two put me and Trixie in danger?"

The question caught him off guard and he wasn't prepared for the pain that seared through him as he turned his attention to the woman driving the car. "Being my friend hardly qualifies you for Hell, Detective," he didn't mean for it to come out harshly, but still he didn't tamper down the bite of his tone. "I am not the judge of who goes where. That is up to you humans. You punish yourself with guilt. With all that you have done as a detective, you should have little to feel guilty for."

From the little he could see of her expression, he saw doubt. "Chloe," he snapped. "Hell was not made for you. You will not go there," it was a demand that resounded back through the car to him. He saw his demon straighten up at it. But it didn't have the same effect on his detective. Whether it was the case of her being a miracle or simply that she didn't fear him, he couldn't tell. Perhaps, she just had one hell of a poker face.

"Maybe you should consider how you were able to get out of the necklace," she offered up the change of subject smoothly. "I didn't think magic was real."

"That kind of magic was supposed to have died a long time ago," his demon answered for him as he leaned back in the backseat. "I only glanced at the book, but it's not in English. So, unless the human was from an old world family then there's little chance she would know how to read the spell much less cast them."

"How do you think he was able to escape?" His detective brought up a serious question.

"Divine intervention, perhaps," even as he said it he doubted it. It was very much unlikely that dear ole Dad would give him aid. That didn't mean one of his siblings wouldn't.

"Did you see anything? Were you able to see anything?" She prodded further. "How were they able to keep you restrained?"

What he wouldn't give for a drink. This was a conversation he wasn't wanting to have, but he knew that there was no dodging it. Not when he didn't have the means to escape, well, a means of escape that wouldn't put him at odds with his detective.

"The spells are in Latin," he said as he forced himself to relax back in the back seat. "A simple spell that bound me and my power to a prison."

"The necklace?" Mazikeen offered.

"It was a bright red light," he informed. "I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. All there was, was the bright light."

"How are you still alive if you couldn't breathe?" Chloe sounded confused when she asked.

"Immortal," both he and his demon said at the same time.

"It felt like I was starting to die," he glanced at Chloe then, eyes narrowed. "Then there was a flash of light and I was out." She was likely the reason why he started to die, the vulnerability she induced in him would explain that away pretty quickly. The light though. "Perhaps it was divine intervention," he murmured to himself.

Mazikeen got his attention and it appeared she was on the same page as he was. The look she gave him was clear. He needed to keep his detective close. He just wasn't sure how could manage that outside of working cases.

Knowing the answers, at least some of them made for the trip home monotonous. The detective didn't question it. Her face, the glimpses that he caught of it were pensive. Clearly, she was lost in her own thoughts.

Road trips, as they were, were exhausting. By the time his detective pulled into Lux, there wasn't much for conversation. He was followed up to the penthouse as if the two females weren't sure he was capable of making it up the elevator on his own. He tolerated his demon, he would extract retribution at another time, and the detective was always a welcome guest.

As much as he wanted to get out of these clothes he resisted the urge to strip as soon as the elevator doors opened. He did lead the way to his safe, taking his time to punch in the code so he could pay his demon for her services.

Money didn't particularly matter to him and it didn't matter to his demon. However, she no longer lived with him and she was out of Chloe's apartment. Payments such as these would be necessary. He didn't bother to count or look, he just handed her a neatly bundled stack.

"You need me you know how to get a hold of me," Mazikeen stuffed the money down the front of the tight bodice she wore.

"Stay close," he instructed evenly. Lucifer hadn't considered the real consequences of demons breaking loose from Hell. Normally he wouldn't care, but his detective and the handful of other humans were just cause enough for him to be concerned.

His demon snorted and didn't wait for Chloe, she went back to the elevator as if he'd dismissed her. She likely thought she was doing them a favor by giving them privacy. He wished he had it in him to offer token flirtation, but even that seemed too much after everything. He pulled out another neatly bundled stack of bills and offered it to his detective, "This should cover the cost of your rescue. You will find me eternally in your dead."

"That's too much," she didn't take the money from him. "And I'm pretty sure you've saved me more times. What," she paused and looked as if she were taking the time to count all the times he'd saved her in dire moments. "Three? Four? I've kind of glossed over a few of them," she shrugged. "I think I at least owe you another rescue or two."

That warmed him. He stepped closer and took one of her hands, pressing the money into it. "Yes well," he tried not to read too much into her words. "With your pay, I would hate for our little misadventure to put you in a hard place. Take this and we can call it even on you owing me one," then the moment occurred to him. "Unless you wanted to pay in full. I was intending to shower when we got here, you could always join me and we can call us even?"

Chloe rolled her eyes and took the money, finding a pocket to secret it away to. "Yeah, nice try. I'm gonna go home and crash. We have work to do tomorrow, stay out of trouble. I'm sure there's a lot of paperwork ahead of us."

"Us? I think I just gave you enough money to get myself out of paperwork for the next year," he stuck out his bottom lip petulantly. "I should at least be able to come in late, I have alcohol to drink and people to sleep with to make up for the drought I've had. You can't expect me to behave for one whole night."

She snorted and began back towards the elevator, "Tomorrow. Bright and early."

"I'll be sure to be bushy tailed for you, Detective," he gave her a pleasant smile that she mirrored. He stood in the doorway of his bedroom, watching as she disappeared into the elevator. He felt it when she was a safe distance away. As if someone had plugged him into recharge.

The vulnerability wasn't enough to keep him from the draw she had. Even when he was at his weakest.

Sleep wasn't something he intended to chase. After shedding himself of the cheap clothing and bathing off the filth of a cheap motel room he was more intent on reaching out. After donning a silky robe and giving his brother as much modesty as he felt he needed to, he pressed his palms together to pray.

The only sibling he felt he could call out to, even after he ignored his cries for help.

There was the familiar sounds of feathers catching the wind, the light touching down of feet on concrete. Not what he expected, but perhaps Amenadiel was feeling introspective. Rolling his eyes, he dropped his hands and went to meet his brother out on the balcony. "You have some explaining to do," he called out before he saw him.

Only it wasn't Amenadiel. The man standing out on his balcony had the familiar structure that angels tended to have. There was a lean build to him, he had olive colored skin and dark closely cut hair. Lucifer just couldn't place the name with the face.

"Well this is unexpected," he eyed his unfamiliar sibling. "I can only imagine you were birthed after my fall," he found himself wishing for a drink. "So, I don't believe we have been formally introduced."

The angel turned towards him and offered him a slight smile, his dark-colored eyes seemed to take in more as he considered Lucifer. "No," he gave a slight nod. "I was too young during your rebellion to be of any use in the fight. For either side. Your fall was something I witnessed. It was treated as a cautionary tale for all who dared disobey," he rolled his shoulders nonchalantly. "As I am sure you are aware of."

"The loser never gets their side of the story told," he snorted and turned to go back into the penthouse, heading towards the bar for that much-needed drink. "Who are you, brother?"

"Azazel," the angel supplied readily then waited, watching as he poured two fingers worth of scotch into his tumbler then another for his guest.

"The scapegoat?" He looked back at his guest in surprise. "Really? Were you not bound to rocks to wait for Dad's final judgment. You were to ring in new life upon this world. Do tell me that the end isn't near," he offered his brother one glass as he took a healthy sip from his own. "I'm fairly certain the apocalypse isn't for another millennium."

The other angel pulled a face but took the offered glass, he sniffed at the contents before taking a curious sip. His brows went up as he took another, "My punishment for arming these heathens."

"And makeup," Lucifer supplied. "Though I do enjoy that one," he raised his glass to him. "Mustn't forget your sins, brother. Otherwise, someone else will delight in reminding you." He hummed as he finished off his glass, "So, to what do I owe this visit?"

He watched Lucifer with an intensity, it looked measuring. "Don't be foolish," he took his time refilling his tumbler. "Between the two of us, even as I am now, we both know who would come out on top. What were you, Scapegoat? A watcher?"

"Azazel," his brother corrected him, visibly bristling. "And yes, I was a watcher."

"Proving my point," he smiled as he raised his glass to him. "There is no possible way you can be if any threat to me." He eyed the angel, "You don't have the strength or the power to do anything but glower at me."

"I have numbers," the Scapegoat growled, raising to his baiting.

He narrowed his eyes at the younger angel, that explained the demons. "Are you also responsible for my imprisonment at the hands of humans?" He kept his tone civil, but he could feel his rage simmering at the surface. He let it rise. He let the devil face take him, exposing the gruesome vision to the younger angel. "Because if it were you, it would be very foolish to confront me without these numbers you claim to have."

Azazel took a step backward, his eyes large and fear apparent. "I wasn't," he backpedaled further. "I awoke to one of your demons at the bottom of a pit in a dessert. Any influences I had over mortal souls have long since perished," his expression sobered. "They have long since turned to dust."

It wasn't the angel before him then it left only another angel or perhaps even a demon was responsible for the torment he faced. It made exacting revenge for it more complicated. There were hundreds of angels that could've been done this not to mention the multitudes of demons. He released his demon face and reeled in his anger, back to wearing the angelic skin.

"That they have," he released a breath as if he hadn't just exposed himself. "Humans have an unfortunate mortality to them," he paused then and looked to his brother. "You tied yourself to one, did you not?" Curiosity got the better of him and he sat down in the leather settee, "Did you father a few nephalem? I've not the opportunity to meet any so my knowledge on them is sketchy at best."

"No," his voice was low, likely still lost in the memory of the humans he had left behind.

"Well," he gestured to the seat across from him. "What brings you here? Surely it's not to reminisce."

"I've come to give you a choice," the Scapegoat began, not bothering to sit. "Join me. Aid me in leading your demons. Or fall to our might."

* * *

There's this big temptation to see how I could borrow some Diablo demons, I'll let you know if I do that.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I'm just playing with them.  
I've been picking up some of this from a little research and morbid curiosity. The story of Azazel, for example, and his punishment were pulled from the Book of Enoch. There were references that the Watchers took wives. So, I had it that Azazel took one (which is plausible). The name was something I just went with ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

* * *

8

He laughed. It was loud and hard. His glass of scotch, forgotten. It had to be the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard.

"Your might?" He cackled. "What might does an angel of your stature have?" He didn't bother to stand. "Hell's demons at your beck and call?" His laughter died down to a mocking chuckle, "Who do you think you are talking do? I led those demons for longer than you've been at the bottom of a pit," he released a breath. "I know their might far better than you do and I assure you, even with demons at your back that you are still no match for me." It might've been a bluff, he wasn't sure on the actual numbers that had escaped Hell.

"What is it that you want?" Amenadiel stood at the bar, materializing out of nowhere like he seemed to enjoy. He had the glow of an archangel's glory and he stood in his robes like a warrior ready to race into battle.

Azazel's righteousness faltered in the face of an actual warrior of God. He didn't flounder, but he backed down from the way had riled himself up against Lucifer. Or maybe it was the fact that it was two archangels versus one insignificant angel.

He relaxed back against the settee and looked back his brethren, another poor fool to be on the wrong side of his father. It felt a rush of sympathy for him. "Look," he tried to put it gently. "You've just escaped your punishment, perhaps you should take some time to enjoy the earthly delights. Worry not about vengeance, or whatever it is you might be striving for. Bask in your new found freedom instead."

Surprisingly, Amenadiel didn't interrupt him. Their larger brother's knuckles crackled as if he were just a hair trigger away from pouncing. Perhaps, he was waiting to see if their younger brother would take his suggestion.

Azazel's features twitched then looked suddenly sorrowful. "I want Judith," his voice quaked. "She isn't in Hell. They checked for me. The only place she can be is in the Silver City."

"And the gates are closed to you," Lucifer summarized.

"And you think you can storm the Gates of Heaven with the demons you have to see your wife?" Amenadiel relaxed visibly, but it was obvious that he was still on guard. "I am sorry, brother. But you have to understand why that's not possible. Even if you are able to gather all the hordes of Hell there's no way you could penetrate the gates."

"You simply don't have the power," Lucifer said easily. "Though if it is any consolation, I can't go home either."

"All the more reason for us to work together," Azazel proffered. "You will see it is the only way. Especially with your human. When her life extinguished before your eyes and you are forced to face eternity without her, you will understand." There was no threat in his tone, but there was no mistaking his words.

He didn't need Amenadiel to spring now. He was up and after the fledgling angel with every intention of wringing the little bastard's neck. Unfortunately, he was quick. There was a sweep of wings and he felt it when Azazel fled.

All he managed to come away with was a fist full of feathers.

He wanted to go after him, to follow the trail of demons. But a heavy hand fell on his shoulder and held him back. "Let me go," he hissed out, jerking away from his brother. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" He demanded, jerking away from the bulkier angel. "You expect me to allow him to make a threat to her and leave to go fulfill it?"

"He didn't threaten Chloe," Amenadiel argued. "He just told you the truth." He wrapped an arm around Lucifer's middle and pulled him closer. "Think of all the times she's almost died. The poisoning, we barely managed to get the antidote in time. Humans are fragile, they grow old and they die. She will, too."

"You think I don't know this?" He demanded, he shrugged off the larger angel. "You think I haven't thought of losing her? You weren't there when he shot her," he snapped at him, thinking back to the loft and the rain of bullets Cain cast upon them. "I don't need her mortality pointed out to me." He snarled lowly, "If he goes to her I will take it out on you and I'll take the Scapegoat's head then take his lead.."

Amenadiel raised his hands in a placating manner. "I understand the feeling, I do," his deeper voice went soothing. "But Azazel has to be stopped before he raises the full might of Hell to do his bidding."

"Fine," he sniffed. He was fully prepared to spend the evening relaxing but now he had other things to worry about. "You go after the fool, I need to make sure Chloe is safe."

* * *

She came out of Trixie's room to find Dan already dozing on the couch. He had stayed long enough to get a report and for her to get a much-needed shower. She had smelled musty and she was so relieved to be in clean clothes, even if they were just pajamas.

She found an afghan and carefully draped it over him. It wouldn't be the first time he'd crashed on her couch in the last few months. She didn't want to give him a reason to not feel like he couldn't come to her, even with their failed marriage. They made better friends than they did a couple.

She turned off the lamp and started for the stairs when she noticed an image in the window. "Lucifer?" She tried not to let it surprise her because really she shouldn't be surprised by anything the devil decided to do.

She found her way outside and folded her arms, it was warmer in LA than it had been in Oregon but the later it got the cooler it was. She found him where she last spotted him, just outside her window, striving for nonchalance. "What are you doing here?"

"I," he smoothed down the front of his button down. He stood before her in a light blue button down and dark slacks. It looked as if he were dressed in a hurry so he wasn't as well put together as he usually was. "I had to make sure you were alright."

"You just saw me a few hours ago," she pointed out, confused.

He made a noise and shifted from foot to foot. "I did," he agreed. "But something happened between that time and now. I thought it imperative to ensure you were safe."

She twisted her lips up as she eyed him, putting her hands on her hips as she looked at him. "Does this have something to do with the demons that were released?"

Lucifer looked indecisive for a moment, eyeing her before he finally seemed to cave. "It's related, I believe. I've not had any further contact with demons, outside of Mazikeen. A brother of mine introduced himself to me," he paused as if he were unsure wanting to continue. "I was worried the meeting might give him reason to come after you."

She straightened then, on alert. "Are we in danger?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I came here to check on you before … before anything could happen." He stood there like he was on edge, his eyes glassy and his features flickering through emotions. "I was given a choice," he said after a length. "To join him or to be in the way. Normally," he smiled slightly. "I wouldn't allow someone to put me in a corner like this. But I'm not so used to having my weakness so readily available to be exploited."

She took a cautious step towards him, feeling like they were at some precipice and dancing on the edge. "What's your weakness?"

He laughed a little and he took a step backward like he wasn't quite sure he wanted to make the leap. She could see the insecurities on his face, "I would think that would be obvious by now."

Oh.


End file.
